In need of a boyfriend
by blueplastichairbrush
Summary: "They were leaning close, their palms were sweating and it felt like firework, beautiful and loud." The summer Percy and Annabeth turn sixteen, he has something he want to forget while she has something she wants to write. So they start pretending to be in love.
1. Spiders, ghosts and a small red bond

**Spiders, ghosts and a small red bond**

A/N: My apologies if my descriptions of New York are wrong and I'm sorry for any mistakes, because I'm sure they exist…

Disclaimer: I don't own any thing, Rick Riordan does.

_"His eyes close as his face came closer to hers. He lean in, she could feel his breath against _  
_ her nose. Her eyes were still on him when his lips met hers…"_

Annabeth Chase stopped typing. The document before her consisted of exactly 24 982 words. She sighed and closed her laptop. The room became darker when the light from the laptop screen subdued and she closed her eyes.

"Shit," she muttered. She would never finish a story. She, age sixteen, a girl who never had been in a relationship and whose lips never had been kissed, how could she write a novel? She wondered exactly how many half-finished stories she had written. Writing romance without ever had experienced it was her biggest difficulty.

Summer in Manhattan is much more boring than it sounds like. It was warm and damp and filled with tourists who wore ugly shoes. Annabeth pulled her curls into a ponytail and pushed the down-button on the elevator. She would have preferred spending the day inside having quality time with her laptop, but no such luck. She had promised Grover, her outdoor freak friend, to spend the day with him.

* * *

The elevators doors opened, and as she stepped in, she noticed a spider in the corner of the elevator. She shrieked and stepped backwards, so fast she fell.

"Damn spider!" The carpet beneath her was dirty, so she brushed herself off when she stood up. Just then she saw a boy before her. A boy with messy black hair who managed to look concerned while a smirk spread across his face.

"What happened Annabeth?" His eyebrow's was all scrunched together, worried wrinkles appearing in his forehead.

"A spider." She said and nodded towards the elevator. The boy grinned at her.

"Oh shut up Percy! At least I'm not the star-swimmer with a fear of drowning!" His face shifted slightly, but before he could say anything Annabeth smiled and sprinted down the corridor shouting:

"Last man down has a head full of kelp!" She had already started on the stairs when she heard him say: "Oh shut up Annabeth, I am so winning!"

Percy came down to the lobby some seconds after Annabeth. Their faces were red and drops of sweat lay on their foreheads. She grinned at him. Some of her curls had glued themselves to her face and her breath was fast and unsteady.

"You cheated!" Percy's voice sounded like a spoiled child's, but he was grinning.

"All is fair in love and running competitions!"

"I'm pretty sure you got that one wrong!"

* * *

Percy Jackson had moved into her apartment building when he was eleven. Annabeth had lived there most of her life, with a few unhappy breaks. Her best friend, Thalia Grace, and her little brother Jason, lived on the tenth floor. Annabeth and Percy in lived in fifth. Thalia had always been Annabeth's best friend, even for the two years age difference. This summer would be their last before Thalia left for college. She was the best friend you could wish for, loyal and brave and kickass. With her spiky black hair, rivet jacket and big black boots.

Grover, a short boy with slightly ginger hair, came walking towards them.

"Hello Percy and Annabeth!" Grover was at their age, but he looked much younger.

"Hi Grover," Annabeth hugged him.

"Yuck! You're so sweaty! Did you guys run a marathon or something?" He walked some steps backwards. Percy laughed.

"Yeah, down the stairs."

"Are you too good for the elevator?"

"Oh well it was mostly because of the big monster, Annabeth was sure it would kill us. But I'm pretty sure it only wanted to give us a donut."

* * *

The tree crossed one of the bridges in Central Park, each of them holding an ice-cream. They looked like an heroic trio. And they had fought a few monsters in their time. They smiled, but if you looked closely you could spot the sad memories in their eyes. They were teenagers with scarred hearts. Growing up is a constant fight with monsters you cannot kill.

They had grown up together, Annabeth, Grover, Luke, Thalia and Percy. It felt so strange that both Thalia and Luke would leave in the fall, and in only two years Annabeth would do the same. They would leave their street, their childhood, behind. It was as if parts of them had grown into the asphalt they walked upon. As if parts of their souls had started growing inside the trees. They would haunt this place. Their ghosts would keep running and laughing and fighting long after they left.

* * *

"Good night Annabeth!" Percy and Annabeth had taken the elevator up to their floor, and Annabeth smiled at him and retuned the words.

"Good night." He turned around and she could see his muscles in his legs move as he walked. She started walking towards the door the led to her apartment. But Percy called her name and she turned around.

"Annabeth, are you okay?" His eyes looked directly into hers. Without thinking Annabeth folded her arms across her stomach, as if raising her guard.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You look so tired."

"Well it's just my writing that's all. I can't continue, I can't write a kiss."

"Just use some of your own experience!"

"Come on Percy, I would consider you my friend. Don't you think I would tell you if I had a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend for that matter?" Percy took a few small steps towards her, minimizing the distance between them. "You don't have to have a boyfriend to kiss someone Annabeth."

"Well I just haven't kissed anyone!" She snapped, her eyes looking strict into Percy's.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to try to write something, you can't write? All the brilliant writers had experience with love. They all knew some kind of love, the horrible heart-breaking type, the happy-ever-after type or maybe soul-mates-that-just-can't-get- it-to-work type. I just need a damn boyfriend!" She turned and started walking.

"I'm pathetic." She muttered silently and reached for the door. Her hand lay upon the door handle, but another hand stopped her from pushing it down. Percy's hands were robust and his nails were broad, and they held a firm grip on her own delicate ones.

"Annabeth," he embraced her. Her curls rested on his shoulder and their hands clutched one another tight. If you had been able to see it from above you would've seen his black and her blonde hair mix and create a stunning contrast. You would've taken a photo and hung it up on your wall, because these teenagers looked good together. Their hands went well in the others; their eyes complimented each other. If their lips had met, it would have been clear that they too would fit. These two were tied together with a small red bond, which made their bodies fit together and their voices toned so they would make a lovely duet. Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson belonged to one another. They just didn't know it jet.

* * *

A/N: There are a few changes with ages and stuff, but it's an AU so let's say its okay. I hope I have kept the characters as close to the original as possible. I would love to get constructive criticism so please review!

Because reviews are blue cupcakes and underwater kisses


	2. Fire, best friends and love confessions

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, Rick Riordan however does

Before: Annabeth wants to write a kiss, but she feels like she can't, because she's never kissed anyone. Thalia is Annabeth's best friend and she is together with Luke.

**Fire, best friends and love confessions**

"I'm home!" Annabeth announced as she closed the door behind her.

"Welcome home Annabeth!" A man in a wheelchair rolled in to view. His hair was brown and curled, with small streaks of grey in it. His smile symbolised love and warmth. Annabeth's biological father was a history professor living in San Francisco. He lived there together with his wife and their two sons. Annabeth had never met her biological mother. That was a woman with no name, haunting her like a ghost. She was sown fast to Annabeth like Peter Pans shadow. She had been adopted by a Latin teacher and had only lived a few short periods with her biological dad. It had never worked out between them. Brunner had taken care of her when no one else had. Annabeth was happy and grateful to get call this man she now bent down to hug her dad.

"I made food; does spaghetti sounds good to you?"

"Spaghetti sounds absolutely perfect."

* * *

Annabeth got up the next morning and went to pull her curtains apart. It was morning, but almost no light reached through Annabeth's bedroom window. The tall buildings in New York didn't always let the sun shine all the way to the ground. Her pyjamas pants were too short, but without bothering to change she sat down in front of her laptop. For a while she sat still, looking directly at the word-document before her. Even if she realised that this really wouldn't help her writing at all, her eyes followed the words she had typed. A sigh escaped her mouth. She let herself scroll through her writing as if one last time. She was about to push the red exist button when she heard someone knock twice on her bedroom door.

"Who's there?" she asked hesitantly. The door opened and revealed Percy with a face painted red.

"It's just me," he smiled and walked in with uncomfortable steps. His eyes asked for permission and he sat down on the edge of her bed. The yellow light from the lamp made his eyes look more moss green than sea green, and his arm ran fast trough his black hair.

"What do I owe you the pleasure of your visit?" Annabeth had turned her office chair towards him and was smiling, curious. His eyes fell from her and were left examining the floor where some colourful socks lay under a rug. Cleaning was not Annabeth's favourite thing.

"I was thinking about yesterday. About what you said. And I was wondering if you would want to try?" His eyes looked up at her, and his face looked so vulnerable, and he was so close that their knees almost touched.

"Try what?"

"Try to kiss someone. Just so we're clear, I don't like you that way. But if it would help you out, you can totally kiss me." A silence fell as a veil between them. She glanced over at him. She saw how his cheeks were turning more and more red, how his left shoelace was untied, and that he had a million hairs covering his legs. How his knees were scarred after many falls, and his knuckles were sore. His hands were playing with the edge of his shorts and his eyes looked down so she could examine his eyebrows and the scrunch that had formed between them. She nodded.

"Thank you, I would like to kiss you, as long as it doesn't change anything. Because I don't like you that way either, but I like you as a friend. And I don't want to lose that."

His hands found hers and he held around them. Their knees knocked into each other, her curls fell forward, their lips met. His lips were chapped and dry and her lips got stuck on his. Without thinking about it Annabeth rolled her chair closer and her hands let go of Percy's to grip around him and push him closer. His tongue traced her teeth as her lower lip was pressed against his lower. She had closed her eyes and his were half open, his eyelashes fluttering. Their noses bumped into each other, their check where hot and red, and they were on fire, burning up in the heat of a distant sun. Percy's hands were cupping her face while her own hands were around his neck, just were his hair started. His breath was hot and fast against her face, breathing at her like a dragon who held a princess prisoner. It felt as if her heart would beat out of her chest, ending up bloody on the floor. Everything was glowing and burning up, their hands, their lips, and their tongues. They were leaning close, their palms were sweating and it felt like firework, beautiful and loud.

Percy's hands shifted and lightly he pushed them apart. They looked at each other, their cheeks and ears red. First kisses aren't important. A first kiss is something you remember but just because it's a first, not because it's good. Annabeth's eyes were telling a different story. So were the couple of sea-green eyes she was looking into. She was shaking a little when she broke the silence to thank him. He nodded and stood up to leave. His eyes lingered on her for a second, and his face had changed. It expressed something Annabeth never before had seen. Without a word he left her alone in her room with yellow walls. She heard his steps stop up for a minute before he started to walk again. As if he had been planning to re-open the door and enter again. She still wasn't breathing normally, but her mind was trying to think about like it was for science. A sentence she had read more than once resounded in her head. "_Their tongues battled for dominance", _but it had never been a battle, it was a dance.

* * *

She pulled her hair back, and left it behind her still hot ears. Then she turned around and started typing. Annabeth sat still in the same position till was going dark. On her desk it stood two almost untouched peanut butter sandwiches. Her phone started playing Green Day and she picked it up, knowing who it was.

"Hi Annabeth, want to come over?"

"Well, not in my pyjamas. I've been writing all day, why don't you visit me instead?"

"You've been writing all day? Yesterday you told me you were on a writing block! Congratulations!" Annabeth smiled a little.

"Good! Should I invite the rest?"

"No!"

"Annabeth Chase, did you fight with Percy again?"

"No, it's nothing!" Annabeth felt queasy.

"It's something, I know it! I can hear it in your voice Annabeth."

"Well I didn't fight with Percy, I sort of kissed him."

* * *

"So he did it to help you?" Thalia asked, not sounding convinced.

"Yes, that's it, there were no feelings involved." Annabeth longed for this conversation to be over.

"How was your day with Luke?" Thalia's face lightened. She really liked Luke. They looked a little strange together, but a good strange. They were two people with hands locked in each other's, about the same height. He had short sandy hair and a scar over his eye. He'd gotten the scar in a car accident as a child, but whenever someone asked how he got it, he would say he got it while slaying a dragon. The scar seemed to fade a little whenever he saw Thalia. Thalia used to walk beside him, glowing. All the dark make-up in the world could not make Thalia look un-happy with Luke by her side.

"He said he loved me. He sat down and looked into my eyes and told me he loved me. I mean, we have said it before. Today he said it as if he was proposing to me."

* * *

A/N: I truly have no idea how to write kisses. After all there is a reason I got the idea of this story… Thank you so much for the kind reviews!

Reviews are like princess curls, fighting side by side and first kisses


	3. Cheeseburgers, blue candy and stories

A/N: I AM SO SO SORRY! I had a writer's block and I am terrible and getting out of them.

Disclaimer: Rick Riordan

Before: Annabeth and Percy kiss, totally friendly of course and Luke confesses to Thalia that he love her. Thalia, Luke, Grover, Percy and Annabeth have grown up with each other and Thalia and Luke is leaving for college in the fall. Thalia and Annabeth is having a sleepover.

**Cheeseburgers and stories**

The two girls fell to sleep listening to the sound of the cabs and the people on the streets. Waking up their hair was messy just as their dreams had been. Their eyes contained a layer of grey sleepiness that always appears after sleeping lightly side by side with your best friend. They woke of a knocking on the door. Or maybe it was the sound of someone running their wheelchair into the door again and again.

Brunner was always one to wake up early. Annabeth had never really understood why, because it seemed like centuries reflected in his brown eyes, so what could a morning mean to someone who seemed to have lived forever?

"Rise and shine!"

"It's summer! We have the right to sleep!" But they didn't. They took on their clothes while still being half-asleep but when they descended from the bedroom to the bathroom Thalia started talking.

"Luke loves me."

"He did say so."

"And we are going to collages not too far away from each other and we can visit each other every weekend. Do you know what that means?"

"Not really."

"He loves me Annabeth. And I think that for once in my life this might end well. I want to marry him, and have his kids, and I don't even like children!" The words hit Annabeth like needles. Like small horrible needles piercing trough her heart. Thalia would leave, and she would be fine.

"That's amazing Thalia. I'm so happy you're happy."

They ate pancakes for breakfast. The pancakes were dry and too sweet, but no one said anything. Thalia's cell phone started ringing and she left the table to talk to someone who probably was Luke.

"So you're over your writings block?" Brunner asked taking another bite of the too dry pancakes. Annabeth nodded as she tried to swallow.

"How did you know?"

"After your friend Percy visited yesterday, I swear I could hear you typing. What did he do?" Annabeth's cheeks became slightly redder as she took a big bite of pancake to avoid answering.

"I am meeting up with Luke in a few minutes, thanks for the breakfast!" Thalia entered again, already with shoes on. She bent down to hug Annabeth and left without another word.

"She is spending much time with him isn't she?"

"Yes." Annabeth said silently. In the look of her father's face she understood he understood. It hurt that Thalia was leaving, it hurt that Thalia would leave her behind.

After breakfast she wrote. She wrote and her word just kept falling down the page, like raindrops fall from the sky. They fell slower and slower as it appeared raindrops in her eyes as well. It was needles in her heart and clear blood flowed from her eyes. It was a hurricane inside her, ripping apart things that once had been nice.

She left her room to take a walk. Annabeth had planned on buying tons of candy and eating her feelings. The spider-free elevator took her down to the lobby, but as she spotted someone in particular all she wanted to do was to push the close button. The one in particular however had seen her and was walking closer.

"Hi!"

"Hi Percy!"

"Where are you going?"

"I am going to drown my feelings with candy."

"Sounds tempting, may I?" Percy held out his hand and she looped her own in it, not knowing why she suddenly was okay with him being there. And why she had said it like it was instead of lying. And why Percy wanted to join her on an adventure that existed of eating and talking about feelings.

"It would be a pleasure."

They had gone to the big M&M store near time square and filled a bag each. Percy's was entirely blue.

"I'm sorry, but this just won't cut it." He said as he propped his mouth full of blue. Annabeth still didn't know why Percy needed comfort food, but she didn't want to ask. He had not asked her.

"I need bad unhealthy cheap crappy comfort food!" He exclaimed and a couple on the sidewalk turned towards him. They were in their forties and lines were running in their shocked faces.

The two sat down at a table stained with grease and ordered three cheeseburgers. One burger for the girl, two for the boy.

"Why do you need comfort candy?"

"Thalia is leaving. And she will be fine, because she has Luke, and they love each other. But me? I will be left here with no one to fight together with. I don't like the thought of going to school without Thalia. I don't like the thought of being without her. I'm so used to seeing her every day. She is so much more than my best friend to me. I need her, but she doesn't need me anymore. It feels like I am replaced. Why do you?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"I talked, so now you talk." Percy stayed silent while eating his burger slowly. But then:

"You know I never told anyone why I moved here."

Silence

"My dad, his name is Gabe, he hit my mum. Sometimes he would hit me too. He was a hell of a dad. One time my mum ended up at the hospital and the police came. He have been in prison ever since. Until today. My mum is a mess and I can't do anything about it." He looked up as if to stop himself from crying. Annabeth cursed herself for not knowing what to say.

"If it helps I can tell you something that happened when I was six years old." Percy didn't say a word just ate.

"I was a deeply unhappy child. I'd never met my mum and I lived with a dad who cared more for his books than for me. I had a stepmom who despised me and two half-brothers I never got to stay near. Apparently I was bad for them. I truly believed I was a curse and something horrible everyone wanted to get rid of. So I ran away, armed with a teddy bear and my steps mums' money. I ended up with some homeless folks on a beach. Just then a Latin teacher from New York was in San Francisco to lecture and he found me." Annabeth went quiet and for a while they ate surrounded by people talking loudly.

"So Brunner found you?"

"Yes, I thought that was pretty obvious…"

"Your story had a happy ending then."

"Just as I know yours will."

A/N: AGAIN I AM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT! I know this chapter is sort of angsty. But I really wanted to set focus on how terrible their childhoods really were…

Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! They make me happy and inspire me :)

Reviews are like candy and cheeseburgers


	4. Boyfriends, girlfriends and pretending

A/N: I apologise for my English and for the wait…

Disclaimer: Rick Riordan

Before: Annabeth is sad, Percy is sad, they tell sad stories and eat comfort food. Percy has a crappy dad and Annabeth ran away when she was six. Percy doesn't believe in happy endings and Annabeth thinks she needs a boyfriend to be a better writer.

**Boyfriends, girlfriends and pretending**

It looked like Percy didn't believe his story would ever have a happily ever after.

"Yes, I'm sure the kid with dyslexia and ADHD will come far in this world. I'll end up as my father, alone, depressed and beating an amazing woman till she bleeds, to make me feel better." Annabeth reached over the table and gripped his hand with hers.

"Look at me Percy!" His eyes still looked down.

"Percy." He looked up.

"You are good. You are nothing like your father, because you are good. All the fights you've ever gotten into are to protect your friends. You are good! You know what your name reminds me of? Perseus, a Greek hero, he was the son of Zeus and was one of the few heroes who actually got a happy ending. You are a hero Percy, and you'll get your happy ever after." Percy started crying, but he smiled and made no attempt to wipe away the trails of saltwater that made their way down his face.

"So you really ran away when you were six?" She nodded.

"The best people have the rottenest luck."

The two of them sat together with two bags of candy between them. Annabeth and Percy were in a park in Greenwich. They sat in silence while admiring the cupcakes in a bakery close to the bench they shared.

"You know I could use a boyfriend." Annabeth said and Percy turned away from the sight of cupcakes and stared at her.

"We share the tragic tales of our childhood and now you need a boyfriend?" He laughed.

"Yes, I am in need of a boyfriend!"

"Do you need one because of Thalia and Luke or because of your writing?"

"Both I guess. I am so scared of being alone. But mostly the writing."

"But good god, you have a wonderful childhood to deliberate!"

"One of the reasons I love reading and writing so much is because I can forget about reality and the real world. I can make up a world filled with fantastic creatures and heroes. I want to write stories where running away and having bad fathers result in heroes, not outcasts who constantly get bullied. I believe that love can defeat evil and that endings can be happy even if the beginnings are sad."

The silence parted them again, leaving them isolated in their own minds. They were watching moments like movies in fast forward. Pictures of bloody mothers in hospital gowns, homeless with dirty clothes, a dad yelling, a daughter crying, bullies calling names, turned backs, pointed fingers and whispers containing your name.

"I would like to read your stories one day." Percy almost whispered.

"You would? Why?"

"Because I believe you're going to use your words right."

"No one has ever gotten to read what I've written before."

"Do you want someone to read it?"

"Maybe I will, someday in the future."

"But you need a boyfriend?"

A nod

"I'll be your boyfriend"

"What?"

"We can pretend, right? Pretended love is also a kind of love. It might not be the best, but…"

Silence

"Why would you do that? Like one of those stupid bets? We kiss and pretend and whoever falls in love first loses?"

"Of course not! Didn't you insist I was a good person?"

Another nod

"I just need something to take my mind of things. And maybe my mum would think about something else too. She has always liked you."

"We can pretend this summer, and maybe end it in the fall?"

Percy nodded this time.

"It's a deal then?"

"One more thing, it's for the benefit of your writing, right?"

Annabeth nodded.

"I want to read it, when it's done."

A moment's hesitation.

"Okay."

They shook on it.

They used the underground to get home and as Annabeth turned to walk to her apartment Percy gripped her hand, turned her around and kissed her. It still felt like fire. Fire that shot up from a dying campfire just to die as fast as it had lived. It was a short kiss.

"My second." Annabeth stated.

"Fifth." Percy said looking down. He answered the question Annabeth didn't ask with a single word: "Rachel."

"Oh."

"She was okay you know, until she needed to return to LA." And Rachel Elizabeth Dare had been okay. Last summer she had stayed in New York a couple of weeks and she and Percy…

"But she did hit Luke with her hairbrush." Annabeth said quietly.

"Her blue plastic hairbrush." They smiled, remembering, and without another word they parted.

* * *

"Where have you been all day?" Brunner asked, not looking up from the big book the rested in his lap. As Annabeth didn't answer, he looked at her, seeing the glee in her face.

"What happened?"

"I think I got a boyfriend…" Brunner smiled knowingly.

"Remind me to congratulate Percy next time I see him." Annabeth blushed and bent down to lay her arms around her father and hug him tight.

"So you're not going to threaten him about breaking your little girl's heart?"

"First of all, I don't have an ownership of your heart and second of all I'm not sure an old man in a wheelchair would scare him that much."

"Well you can threaten to run him over, that might scare him."

"Nah, I think that kid deserves a little happiness. Just as you do."

Minds are messy before you go to sleep. They are filled with old memories and future dreams, sounds of cars outside and a fan inside. Things you mean to do and the things you wish you didn't. Annabeth had trouble sleeping that night. She wondered over and over if she had done the right thing. How wrong was it to fake love? But it was Percy's idea. And when she first needed to fake it, why did it have to be Percy? They always fought. Was it simply because he had been there? Why did Percy want to help her? To many questions marks filled her mind.

* * *

She woke up of the sound of a pan flute. Her phone vibrated lightly on her table.

"Did you really need to call me right now?"

"Yes, why?"

"I was sleeping Grover!"

"Okay, whatever. I was wondering if you wanted to go to the movies. There is this nature documentary on, and I really want to see it! I've invited all the others. We can meet outside the movies and I'll pay. Bye!"

The call ended.

Annabeth braided her hair and found a dress in her closet; she hadn't worn it since last summer. It was blue and fitted with her sneakers. She applied mascara and looked closely at her own reflection as she brushed her teeth. She considered finding her concealer to hide the sleepless night under her eyes, but she was late. She left in a hurry and wrote a message in messy handwriting explaining where she was to her dad. When she opened her door she almost ran into Percy. He had obviously been waiting for her outside.

"I just thought, you know. We could discuss how to break the news to them, you know…" His face was red and there were marks of sweat under his arms.

"We need to run!" Was all Annabeth said to him as she dragged him into the elevator.

When the two of them reached the outside of the movies and saw Grover standing there alone, looking a little nervous.

"Thalia and Luke have already entered. The movie starts soon!"

"We're so sorry Grover!" Grover however, didn't respond, just turned around and hurried up the stairs. Just as Annabeth started to follow Percy gripped her hand. She squeezed it and felt how warm he was and understood he was nervous.

"We don't have to."

"No we don't." He said as he squeezed her hand harder and the two entered the glass door.

A/N: Okay, this chapter is a little angsty too, and it's a little bit cliché. But it does contain a few references to the series!

Thank you so much for the reviews! They make me very happy :)

Reviews are like Grover playing flute and blue plastic hairbrushes


	5. Pretending to hold hands

A/N: I'M SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT! I had a really busy summer and wrote mostly by hand in an old notebook. But I've been writing a more detailed outline, so that might be good...

Disclaimer: I don't own any thing, Rick Riordan does

Before: Annabeth and Percy form a fake relationship to help Annabeth's writing and make Percy think about something else then his violent father. Now they are going to the movies with their friends.

**Pretending to hold hands**

They held hands. Fingers interlaced, hearts beating, feet moving forward. No one noticed this little connection binding Percy and Annabeth together. They all just walked, with Grover up front leading the way. Thalia turned around to demand Annabeth to sit down beside her, and her eyes widened.

"Annabeth?" her voice trailed off, as if muted by an annoyed listener. Annabeth felt herself blushing; she really needed to stop doing that.

"Wait what?" Grover said, a little too loud. Luke was the only one of them with no open mouth or blushing cheeks, it looked like he had been noticing all along.

"Why are you holding hands? Is Annabeth you girlfriend?" Grover looked suspiciously on his best friend. His best friend nodded. Thalia's arm shot forward and hit Annabeth a little too hard on her shoulder.

"He kissed you just to help you, what? No feelings involved?" Her eyes were glistening with anger Annabeth never before had felt directed towards herself. It felt like her heart might stop. But then Thalia's arms surrounded her, pressing her close and Annabeth felt like she might possible start crying.

"Congratulations, you idiots!"

"Why are you together?" Grover asked, confused.

"Because we like each other Grover," Percy looked down on the dirty floor where old popcorn was smudged into the carpet.

* * *

The movie was about fish. Only Grover and Percy seemed to find it amusing. Annabeth guessed Percy liked it because it at one point featured a clownfish. He had always loved "_Finding Nemo_". Her head rested on his shoulder. It was not comfortable and she didn't relax a bit the hour the movie lasted. It didn't feel natural; it just felt awkward and wrong. It was all fake, and for the first time it felt fake. They were just pretending, like children playing mom and dad minus baby. She could feel his arms and the smell of him. He smelled like sweat covered by some manly deodorant and a little like saltwater.

If Annabeth could have read minds she would have known that Percy didn't feel the same. Percy felt Annabeth's hair down his arm, and how she would move every now and then. The weight of her head on his shoulder felt good, and he smiled knowing it would be like that for a while. They had fought a billion times, but he really liked her. It felt so great to be close to her. She smelled clean, with a faint trace of citrus. But Annabeth could not read his mind, and didn't know.

* * *

It was still early when they sat down on a tired bench in Central Park. There were some late morning runners listening to hideous music passing by. Some dogs walking around with people shackled behind them. A young couple holding hands walked slowly over a bridge nearby. She was short, he was tall. Annabeth looked at the two, one so small and young, the other older, taller. It was a contrast between them, her curls, his short hair, the color of their skin. So Annabeth looked at the boy sitting next to her, grown so much since the first time she saw him. He'd once been a little scrawny boy with messy hair.

They sat pressed together so close that they could feel the others warmth and they were left wondering if they should stand up so they wouldn't be squeezed. The bench was not made for five.

"So how did you get together?" Luke wondered; he'd barely spoken a word the whole morning. Annabeth felt her cheeks redden again. They should have agreed on some sort of story, but it was too late. Percy took her hand and squeezed it. It was time to improvise.

"Well, first we kissed. It was for a good cause, and not supposed to mean anything. But then it did." Annabeth stopped speaking wondering if she should continue or not.

"Details!" insisted Thalia. Now Percy started talking.

"Yesterday we went out. We ate cheeseburgers and just talked. All normal friends stuff." He paused for a second, clearing his voice.

"This was past kiss. And after we ate we sat on a bench, similar to this one, just located elsewhere. We started talking about other stuff, it just happened."

"Did you like each other all along? Or just after you kissed?" They exchanged looks.

"I think for me it's been there for a while, just very well hidden." Annabeth responded, smiling at Percy.

"I honestly don't really know, but it's there now." He leaned if possible even closer to her. She felt it as if she might puke. It was so obviously fake and too romantic and not the way she had imagined. She had always been a big believer in love. Annabeth was suddenly not so sure anymore.

* * *

There were five people sitting woven together on a bench. Behind their backs names and hearts were engraved in the wood. Filled up with people with the need to leave a mark of their existence. As if your life means more if you don't only mark the people who know you, love you, but things too. As if an old bench in a park in New York will honor you memory. Those occupying this very bench will not read your name, let alone remember it. They have each other etched into their hearts. When they're eighty, if they live, they will remember each other, their names, faces, voices and souls. Tiny people locked inside their heart, to let live till the heart stops beating.

* * *

They parted after some hours of sitting too close together and talking. The subject most discussed was Thalia's and Luke's future. When they finally rose from the too small bench and parted, Percy and Annabeth walked away together, hand in hand. Thalia winked at her, but when they were out of their friend's sight, Annabeth let go of his hand. Percy stopped up and looked at her.

"What is it? Is it about Thalia?" She didn't answer but Percy gripped her and hugged her close.

"It's going to be okay. I promise! You'll have me, and you'll have Grover, you won't be left alone." The hug was real and friendly and warm.

"Thanks Percy," she murmured and he let go of her.

"But there is something else too. I think we should end it. Say it was a stupid joke, just be friends again, like normal." She stared down on Percy's hands, not wanting to see his eyes.

"Why? Why already now? Don't you need more for your writing, is that it? Do you even remember that this was never only about you?" He blurted, sounding betrayed.

"No, that's not it! It feels wrong! Can't you feel it?"

"No Annabeth, actually I can't." And he turned around, walking away from her. With each step he made the distance between them longer.

"Percy stop!" Annabeth wanted to follow him, get him to understand. Understand that they had made a mistake and needed to stop. To stop before it all fell apart, tore them apart into hurtful little pieces. And he did stop; he turned around and looked at her.

"You know I was going to ask you over for dinner tonight. But I guess you won't show, and that I'll have to tell my mum my girlfriend broke up with me after a few hours." His fists were clenched when he walked away and Annabeth's nails bore into the palms of her hands. A single name repeated in her head. _Sally Jackson._

A/N: Yay first fight! I am sort of changing up the "trend" of the titles! I am also considering having shorter chapters and publish more of them, but I don't know. Please let me know what you think! And a blue cupcake goes to whoever guesses who the mysterious couple that walks across the bride is…

I would like to thank for all the very kind reviews!

As always I would love if you review!


	6. Blue dress

Disclaimer: I don't own any thing, Rick Riordan does.

Before: Annabeth and Percy have a fake relationship to help Annabeth's writing and make Percy think about something else then his violent father. Then they have fight, because Annabeth feel what they are doing is wrong. During the fight she finds out she was originally invited for dinner.

**Blue dress**

A girl crying over a boy is nothing new. Annabeth however wasn't sad, she was furious. In her head she remembers all her previous fights with Percy. The apartment was empty, her dad was working. For some reason she wanted to scream. She didn't, she wrote. Fast and furious she typed in angry words, letting her characters scream for her. She wondered what she and Percy were now. Broken up? Still together? Could you even break up if you hadn't been together? She just typed, hammering her fingers on her keyboard.

Her clock showed half four and she no longer felt angry, she felt guilty. She was such a terrible person, forgetting about Percy and Sally, and Gabe. Annabeth imagined Percy telling his mum about their relationship. Sally with bright eyes because she was seeing her son's happiness. That Sally had inviting her over for dinner.

* * *

In the shower Annabeth felt the small drops of water run down her naked body. The bathroom was small and the mirror was covered in tiny drops of water. Her hair was full of white bubbles and they ran down onto the shower floor before they disappeared.

She put on a blue dress remembering all the blue candy Percy had eaten. Her hair was still damp and she put it up in a small knot: mascara, concealer, blush, a pair of owl earrings, and a last look in the mirror, scrambling a short note and leaving.

* * *

Annabeth almost knocked on the door. Then she almost knocked again. When she finally did it was short and pretty weak. They probably wouldn't hear her. Another knock, a little louder this time, sounds of steps from the inside of the door. Percy opened the door only half way, and looked a little confused at Annabeth. Again, if Annabeth could read minds she would know he was thinking she looked pretty in that dress. And with a few blonde curls falling down in her face.

"What do you want?" He grunted. He was standing in the way so he blocked the view of whoever was inside.

"To apologise, I didn't think. It was stupid but I…" She stopped herself.

"So now you just show up at my door?"

"I'm sorry! I was thinking maybe… No, forget it, I'll leave." So Annabeth turned around and started walking in the direction of her apartment. Her feet moved slowly, hoping he would change his mind, call her name, and forgive her. No one called her name, but when she was almost at her own door again, she could hear a door closing, and she turned around. He was standing out in the hallway. Not inside, but outside with her. She hesitated for a moment before she started walking towards him. He moved too, both of them slowly. None of them started to run dramatically like they do, people who love each other. This was no romantic movie enjoyed with chips and a few people by your side in a comfy sofa. They ended up close together, not touching, not looking down. They just stopped up.

"Thank you,"

"I was stupid too. If you want it to end, then of course we will end it. I wish we didn't, but of course we can. But if you still want dinner, you are welcome to join us. You can choose whether you'll be my friend or my girlfriend."

* * *

"Well mum, this is my girlfriend, Annabeth Chase."

Percy's cheeks were red and his not totally real girlfriend kept thinking he was pretty cute when he blushed. His mum had long black hair in a braid and wearing a red apron over a pair of jeans and a dark blue shirt. Sally Jackson looked older then she was, with a face filled with worried wrinkles and blue paint stained underneath her eyes. But she was pretty, with her long eyelashes and big lips. And she was smiling.

"I was sure I'd heard you broke up?"

"We just had a fight."

"I hope you're not planning on breaking up every time you fight."

* * *

"This lasagne is delicious, Sally!" Annabeth sang out, and Sally smiled as a response, studying Annabeth while she was eating her second plate. Sally looked happy, and Annabeth wondered whether Percy's plan was working. The two of them were making her think of something else, something other than a man who was no longer behind bars. It was clear how much Percy loved his mum. A tiny needle pierced Annabeth's heart, remembering her own mother. Or not remembering her at all. If she could, had she made her lasagne? Why did a woman who had left her alone with her dad still haunt her? Percy was trying to get eye contact. She looked at him and he smiled.

"Just wait for the brownies! They are heavenly."

"Dammit, I wish we'd gotten together earlier so I could have eaten more of this. It's the best thing I have ever tasted!" The three around the table were smiling, and forgetting old scars for a while. Sally kept looking at her son. He looked so happy, like a teenage boy in love. Annabeth never remembered eating more one night. Sally spoke passionately about a cook-book she was working on before she stood up and started to gather plates together. Annabeth rose to help.

"No, thank you. You two go on Percy's room. I'll leave the lovebirds alone!" Annabeth felt that she'd much rather stay with Sally and spend the rest of the time talking about cook-books and food. But she knew that would be weird.

"Okay, thank you for the food. It was truly amazing."

* * *

Percy's room was small, and very messy. The walls were empty except for two pictures. One was of him with his mum, on a beach somewhere. The other of herself, Thalia, Grover, Luke and Percy, they looked younger there, faking smiles, more scared. His bed, desk and floor were filled with clothes.

"Oh crap! I would've cleaned up if I had known you were coming!" She laughed, slightly nervous. She had been inside his room more times than she remembered, but never quite in a setting like this. She felt her heart beating fast; the walls threaten to crush her.

"It's okay." She didn't know if she meant it or not. He started picking up t-shirts and socks, three pair of pants and some underwear. He threw them all into a drawer while looking embarrassed, blushing. He wouldn't meet her eyes.

The two were sitting on Percy's bed. Not close enough to touch, but still so close they could reach out for a hug. Both of them looked like very realistic statues, for some reason located on a bed. The only sign that the two was living, was the slight moving they made when they inhaled and exhaled. They were surrounded by themselves. Thoughts worked like whirlwinds around them, even if the thoughts they were having was about the exact person sitting next to them. Slowly Annabeth turned her gaze from the floor over to Percy. His eyes were studying her, carefully, taking in bits and pieces, but looking away when he saw her eyes.

* * *

They were kissing. With their heart beating fast, lips moving, eyes closed and on fire. It was not as before; this was easier, faster, more. They were close, in a never-ending embrace. Neither of them broke apart, they didn't let the dusty air separate them. The two had for a moment forgotten that they didn't really like each other. Not that way.

It felt like forever, time stopping to make room for only the two of them. Annabeth felt Percy's hands gently holding her face, pushing away her hair. She didn't think about ending it, or how fake it was. Everything was just warm and good. Percy's right hand was moving, face, neck, collarbone …

"Percy stop!" She pushed him away, hard. They were both breathing fast, with red faces and red lips.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean too, I swear, I don't know what I was thinking." He looked sorry, embarrassed and vulnerable. Both of them were busy studying his bed sheets.

"I just don't want to do any of that stuff."

"I'm so sorry, it's entirely my fault."

"Maybe I should leave." She rose up and tugged a couple of curls behind her ear, where Percy's hands had been.

* * *

"Thanks for the food and everything." Annabeth said quietly to Sally when she re-entered the living room.

"Are you leaving so soon?" Annabeth just nodded and wondered if Sally could see she had been kissing someone.

"Isn't he gentleman enough to follow you to the door? Percy! You need to give a proper goodbye to your girlfriend!"

Percy closed the door behind them, again leaving them alone in this empty hallway, filled by their memories.

"Maybe we should've made some rules." He muttered quietly, and Annabeth laughed.

"So you won't touch my boobs again?" She giggled. Percy looked relived and started grinning at her.

"Yeah."

"We'll figure it out."

* * *

AN: Just in case, if you are ever together with someone, and you want to break it off, you can, even if the one you are together with had a violent father (or just had something crap happen to them in general).

I was originally going to publish this chapter in the Percabeth week of the pjoshipweeks, but I finished it quite early so I changed my mind. However maybe if you're kind I'll write a shorter chapter and publish it in the shipweeks 3

Lately I have been going through some the first chapters and edited some stuff, not any big differences at all, but maybe the grammar is slightly better…

Thank you all so much for the reviews, and I would always love even more of them!


End file.
